The youngest of five children with a father who was jokester and a mother who did impressions, Sidney Karger learned early that being funny garnered attention from his parents.
It also instilled in him a sense of comedic timing coupled with an obsession with both “Comedy Central” and “Saturday Night Live” as well as director John Hughes who directed several movies in Karger’s hometown of Highland Park, Illinois including “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Risky Business” and “Sixteen Candles.”
“He was my god,” says Karger, who knowing that Hughes had been a copywriter for an advertising firm studied advertising at Michigan State University. He was successful as a copywriter but didn’t find the work fulfilling.
“It didn’t fill my comedy writing needs,” says Karger, who around that time was offered a job writing for “Comedy Central ” and was unsure of what to do. “I remember standing on a street corner, talking to family, asking do I want to go with an advertising job or “Comedy Central.” It’s pretty amazing when you think of it.”
Karger chose “Comedy Central” and also was a contributing writer to “Saturday Night Live.”
Working for “Comedy Central” was amazing, says Karger, describing the job as “great fun and like working with family.”
With his success,Karger, an award-winning screenwriter for film and television, has now branched out with a romantic comedy (or rom-com as they’re known) titled “Best Men” (Penguin-Random House). The story is about Max, a gay guy struggling with his failing romance, and Paige, his best friend since childhood. Now engaged, Paige is having her usual second and third thoughts and Max, who is Paige’s man of honor and her soon-to-be husband’s younger brother and best man work together to keep the marriage on track. And, of course, fall in love.
The novel, a New York-centric look at love, friendships, finding yourself and realizing your potential, is full of witty conversations and observations. It’s warm, inviting and laugh-out loud funny at times as well. It’s received lot of glowing reviews and was featured as “most anticipated” and made suggested reading lists from Goodreads, BuzzFeed, BookRiot, and LGBTQ Reads.
“Max and Paige’s friendship is ultimately the star of the show, and readers will find their banter reminiscent of fan favorites like Amy Poehler and Tina Fey or Dan Levy and Annie Murphy. A charming debut filled with cocktails, chocolate and comedy,” wrote Kirkus Review, while Anderson Cooper, #1 New York Times bestselling author and journalist, describes the book as “Bursting with laughs and so much love, Sidney Karger’s debut novel delivers a truly refreshing spin on the romantic comedy. It’s full of funny, flawed and poignant characters, set in the dreamy, sharply-observed New York City that we love. ‘Best Men’ is a big-hearted, feel-good summer escape.”
And though Karger recenlty released his second novel, “The Bump, ” he still is writing screenplays as well as doing rewrites of scripts. It’s a good balance.
“I always wanted to be a screenwriter and comedian when I was in college,” says Karger about his career path. “So I decided to write smaller like about Highland Park.”
His script made the coveted Black List, Hollywood’s shortlist of the most liked screenplays, and he started getting numerous writing assignments.
Now, he’s able to write across several mediums and have fun doing it.
This article originally appeared in the Northwest Indiana Times.
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![](http://LaineyGossip.com is an entertainment news and gossip blog co-founded by Elaine "Lainey" Lui. The primary voice of LaineyGossip.com, she is also co-host of CTV's daytime talk show "The Social", and a reporter on CTV's "etalk", Canada's number one rated entertainment news show. The site started as an email to small group of friends and colleagues in 2003 and spread by word of mouth to thousands of now loyal readers. It launched as a website in December 2004 and has since grown into an immensely popular entertainment destination visited by over 1.5 million monthly unique readers. Generating over 18 million monthly page views, it is now a leading international celebrity gossip source and a must read for well-read, educated females across North America. Aside from securing hot tips and exclusive party access on its own, the site has benefited from the access associated with Lainey's role on CTV's etalk, which she joined in 2006 as a special correspondent. With etalk Lainey has covered the Red Carpet at the Oscars, SuperBowl XLII, Cannes and Toronto International Film Festivals, and other top tier events worldwide. In April of 2014 Lainey fulfilled a lifelong dream when her first book Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When a Mother Knows Best, What's a Daughter to Do? A Memoir (Sort Of) was published (by Random House in Canada and Penguin in the USA). Bored yet? If not, below is a selection of clippings from a handful of magazines and newspapers over the past few years. Need more? See the our full bio here (PDF format) or email press@laineygossip.com for more information. Buzzfeed, April 2021 Perez Hilton And Lainey Gossip Were Famous For Their Mean Blogs. Now They’re Trying To Change. By Saachi Koul ELLE Every day after I came home from high school, I’d run to my bedroom, turn on my enormous, whirring black Dell desktop, and read Perez Hilton — the up-to-the-minute celebrity gossip blog — for hours. Paparazzi hunting young famous women and bloggers updating their whereabouts by the second created the feeling that every It girl in Los Angeles was publicly spiraling... Link to full article Toronto Star, Jan 2021 TV sensation Lainey Lui’s dogs, Barney and Elvis, may the best-loved beagles in Toronto. You have to meet them By Jillian Vieira ELLE There are dog people, and then there’s Lainey Lui. Along with husband Jacek Szenowicz, she’s pet parent to Barney, 10, and Elvis, 5, a pair of brotherly beagles who The Social co-host, eTalk co-anchor and founder of LaineyGossip.com fully admits are beneficiaries of an ultra-spoiled situation... Link to full article ELLE Canada, May 2020 15 Inspirational Asian Canadians to Know By Patricia Karounos and Hannah Zeigler ELLE All of our best gossip comes from Elaine Lui – or Lainey, as she is better known. The Toronto-born writer launched her eponymous blog, Lainey Gossip, in 2004 while still working at Vancouver’s Covenant House. Two years later, she quit her job to preside over the site full time, and she’s been a regular fixture in our pop-culture routine ever since... Link to full article Chatelaine, Sept 2019 Elaine Lui On Aging: Some Women Want To Embrace Their Wrinkles, But That's Not Me By Courtney Shea Chatelaine I’m on TV several times a week for The Social and etalk, and one of the things I’m constantly hearing from audience members or on social media is, “Cut that hair!”—that it’s too long for my age. First of all: If you had my hair, would you cut it?... Link to full article The Cut, Nov 2018 How I Get It Done: Elaine Lui of LaineyGossip Lisa Ryan The Cut You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who understands gossip better than Elaine “Lainey” Lui, the Canadian maven behind LaineyGossip.com. She’s been running the site for more than a decade, and parlayed it into a career as an entertainment journalist.... Link to full article BBC News, Sept 2017 Canadian blogger Lainey Lui on why gossip is political By Jessica Murphy BBC Elaine "Lainey" Lui is keeping a sharp eye on Colin Farrell. The Irish actor is a few tables over in the lobby of a downtown hotel being interviewed for a film he's promoting at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff). The festival, which runs until 17 September, is a busy time for Lui.... Link to full article The Ringer, October 2016 Lainey Is Yours in Gossip: How a 12-year-old celebrity blog became essential again By Allison P. Davis The Ringer Elaine Lui has had her back to me for about 20 minutes, typing away on her Surface tablet. We're tucked into her broom closet of an office in Toronto's Bell Media complex, where Lui sits amid an immense but well-organized pile of stuff. A heap of designer shoes is stashed in a cubby; the walls are decorated in the style of collage-obsessed 19-year-old - there's a Slytherin banner on her front door... Link to full article Slate, July 2016 A Celebrity Gossip Expert Explains the Summer of Taylor Swift By Heather Schwedel Slate.com Taylor Swift is having quite the summer - from her breakup with Calvin Harris to the birth of Hiddleswift to Kim Kardashian's receipts-apalooza, plus or minus a Nils Sjoberg, she's been consistently dominating headlines. But what does it all mean? LaineyGossip.com is where many of the smart women I follow online turn for informed interpretation of the latest celebrity scandal... Link to full article The Walrus, March 2015 IN DEFENCE OF LOW CULTURE: And praise of love, hate, discovery, jealousy, obsession, betrayal, and mean-girling By Elaine Lui for The Walrus Talks Creativity walrus-speech-mar15.jpg Elaine Lui is a Canadian television personality, reporter, blogger, and author. She runs the celebrity-gossip website laineygossip.com, reports for CTV's etalk, co-hosts CTV's daily talk series The Social, and wrote the mother-daughter memoir Listen to the Squawking Chicken... Link to see video Toronto Life, November 2014 Toronto's 50 Most Influential: the people who changed the city in 2014 By Toronto Life toronto-life-nov14.jpg She's the quirkiest, funniest and most watchable member of The Social, CTV's answer to The View, and the active ingredient in its success. The show, now in its second season, reaches 2.4 million viewers weekly (up 300,000 from Season One) and has reeled in such high-watt guests as Katy Perry, Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch and Daniel Radcliffe. Her website, LaineyGossip, attracts... Link to full article FLARE May, 2014 Mother Clucker By Maureen Halushak flare-may2014.jpg In her new "sort of" memoir, Lainey Gossip's ELAINE LUI divulges her most personal scoop yet: the inner workings of her insanely close relationship with her mom, semi-affectionately known as the Squawking Chicken. Over dim sum, MAUREEN HALUSHAK observes the dynamic. Read on for the full experience, plus an exclusive excerpt... Link to full article){kind=link}